Sane scores off the bench as City continue to rack up goals ahead of blank

What to do with Manchester City assets is a major talking point in the Fantasy community at the moment.

Pep Guardiola’s side blank in Gameweeks 27 and 31 and are odds-on to do likewise in Gameweek 33, with only Championship club Swansea City standing in the way of an FA Cup semi-final appearance.

One of the drawbacks to “dead-ending” a Fantasy squad into Gameweek 31 is that assets from the likes of Manchester United, Wolves and Spurs may have to be dispensed with (perhaps at the loss of team value) in order to get a competitive team in place for that decimated round of fixtures.

Manchester City, of course, also fall into that bracket.

The counter-argument to that line of reasoning is that a handful of Fantasy assets from City et al don’t have to be overlooked for their forthcoming fixtures and could be simply benched when the Blank Gameweeks come around.

Certainly, there is much to encourage Fantasy investment in Guardiola’s squad.

In West Ham United (h), Bournemouth (a) and Watford (h), City have three appealing matches in between Gameweeks 28 and 30.

Even if their fixtures weren’t as enticing, City’s form is scintillating – as evidenced by their 6-0 demolition of Chelsea two weeks ago.

The reigning league champions have scored 49 goals in 2019 alone and Wednesday night’s victory over Schalke was the ninth time they have scored three or more goals in a competitive match this calendar year.

Guardiola’s troops have also scored 15 more goals than any other club in the Premier League in 2018/19 (admittedly having played an extra match), comfortably topping the table for shots on target, efforts in the box and big chances.

The Citizens’ latest success is recapped in the Scout Notes article below.

Schalke 2-3 Manchester City

• Goals: Sergio Aguero (£11.5m), Leroy Sane (£9.5m), Raheem Sterling (£11.3m)
• Assists: David Silva (£8.5m), Raheem Sterling, Ederson (£5.6m)

Having been the most-sold player of Gameweek 26, Leroy Sane (£9.5m) is well on his way to repeating that feat in Gameweek 27.

Over 600,000 of his FPL owners have deserted him since the horror show of Double Gameweek 25, with the German winger having blanked in two of City’s last four league matches and been an unused substitute in the others.

One superb goal in the UEFA Champions League likely doesn’t change much.

Coming off the bench in the final quarter of an hour of yesterday’s round-of-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen, Sane curled in a fantastic free-kick to bring City level at 2-2 and help put his side in a commanding position ahead of the second leg in three weeks’ time.

The FPL sales will no doubt continue in this Gameweek and beyond but for those Fantasy managers deciding to retain Sane’s services, there may be a tiny sliver of hope regarding his participation in the coming weeks.

On top of Sane’s dip in form, the return of Kevin De Bruyne (£9.7m) has been damaging to the German’s first-team opportunities.

Guardiola has used De Bruyne heavily since his latest comeback from a knee injury, with his return in central midfield meaning that Bernardo Silva (£7.5m) – a player the City boss has a couple of times said is almost “undroppable” – has been predominantly deployed out wide on the right flank.

With Raheem Sterling (£11.3m), another trusted favourite of Guardiola’s, consequently being switched over to the left wing, Sane has been the fall-guy.

With Arsenal and Chelsea being dispatched in style using this set-up, Sane has barely been missed.

There is a nagging feeling, however, that Bernardo is wasted out wide, while De Bruyne continues to struggle to reach his usual levels in central midfield.

This was again apparent on Wednesday evening, with De Bruyne – several shots from outside the box aside – toiling to no great effect in the centre of the park and the typically excellent Bernardo more effective when pushed inside.

David Silva (£8.5m), meanwhile, is perhaps feeling the effects of another exhausting season and at times looked jaded in the middle three.

With City having such a congested schedule (this was the first of five matches in the space of 18 days) in late-February/early-March, we will perhaps see a little more of Sane in Gameweeks 28-30 – though likely not enough to stem the mass exodus.

Sergio Aguero (£11.5m) kept up his scoring streak with an early goal, tapping in from a David Silva cut-back after the Schalke defence ceded possession when trying to play the ball out from the back.

The Argentinean striker cut an isolated figure at times and was often crowded out when attempting to shoot (three of his six shots were blocked) but – like his team – the fact that he continues to plunder goals even when below his best is what keeps us Fantasy managers interested.

Aguero led the line in the absence of Gabriel Jesus (£10.0m), who missed out through injury.

Guardiola had previously said of the Brazilian’s issue:

John Stones had a groin problem and Gabriel Jesus finished the game in Newport with a hamstring problem.

It’s not a big one but big enough for them not to be here.

Sterling was another in-form City player to venture down one-too-many cul-de-sacs against Schalke but the England winger was a constant threat and it was his direct running that led to the foul for Sane’s equalising free-kick.

Sterling then capped off his evening with a well-taken finish from a long Ederson (£5.6m) punt out – that goal coming after Sane’s introduction and after he was switched to the right wing.

The experiment of Fernandinho (£5.3m) at centre-back – and Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) at left-back – continued but both the veteran Brazilian and fellow centre-half Nicolas Otamendi (£6.0m) conceded first-half penalties (the latter in controversial circumstances) and the Argentinean stopper was later dismissed after collecting two bookable offences – both of those players will be suspended for the second leg after Fernandinho passed the threshold for yellow cards.

Guardiola had few complaints about the penalty awards or dismissal, with the use of VAR again proving controversial in the Otamendi handball decision amid reports that the pitch-side monitor wasn’t working:

It’s a penalty. VAR last season against Liverpool would change the game for us. I am a big fan of VAR.

It will improve. When a new system starts, it’s like managers. People expect you to win every game 6-0. VAR will improve, the machine broke, okay, next time it will be better.

I support the initiative because I support fair football.

The City manager added on his side’s performance:

To go away and score three goals and the way we reacted with ten men – we played incredibly well.

I’m delighted but it’s not enough. We gifted the goals. If that happens in another stage… important players can’t lose the ball. We are a nice team to watch. We don’t know how far we’ll get.

We’re scoring an incredible amount of goals. I know as a manager and player, coming here is difficult. They didn’t do too much. We gave them opportunities.

Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Laporte, De Bruyne (Zinchenko 87′), Gundogan, Silva (Kompany 69′); Sterling, Bernardo, Aguero (Sane 78′).